Wrapping machine



-L. M. DIXON WRAPPING MACHINE Filed Jan, 20, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug., 27? w35. L. M. DIXON WRAPPING MACHINE Filed Jan. 20, 19:55

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIEIIIIILIIIZEECEIgum:

US Q0 INVENTOR ug. 27, 1935. l.. M. DIXON WRAPPING MACHINE Filed Jan. 20, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR mmm Aug 27? E93. L.. M; DIXON WRAPPING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 20, 1933 Patented Aug. 27, 1935 Nrrlzov sTATEs PATENT OFFICE WRAPPING MACHINE Application January 29, 1933,-ScrialNo. 652,595

15 Claims.

My invention relates to the art of packaging merchandise and particularly to a machine for automatically placing wrapping material upon the outside of articles of symmetrical design and 5 'uniform size, such as boxes or containers.

The objects of the invention are to provide a mechanism whereby wrapping material may be very rapidly applied, and also to produce a wrapping of neat and well iinished appearance.

lo Other objects and advantages of the invention will be 'set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means .of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

These objects are attained by means of the mechanism set forth in diagrammatic form in the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown 20 a preferred embodiment of my invention. It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that many variations may be made in the design and arrangement of this machine without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that many equivalents may be substituted for many of the minor instrumentalities which I show or indicate in these drawings and the following description, and I do not conne myself to those instrumentalities which are herein shown or described.

30 Fig. 1 is an end Sectional View of the machine on the line aa of Fig. 3.

Fig. 2 is a view partly in section on the line bb Figs. 11 and 12 are details of the banding ma- 45 terial heater and band-severing shear at successive stages of operation.

Figs. 13, 14 and 15 show the package at successive stages of wrapping. -v

For clarity of description the machine will be 5o considered as being made up of several principal groups of parts and elements which I designate as cam drum, driving mechanism, article-feeder, wrapper-feeder, article-holder, band-applier and severing shear.

The sequence and co-ordination of timing of the various operations1 and movements are controlled by means of the cam drum, I, to which are attached various types of cams, l2, 3, 4, 5,6, 'I and 9, anda gear segment, 8. These cams and gear engage various levers, rollers-and a gear wheel to d produce and control the motions of parts as described in detail below. f

Power from any suitable source isapplied to the pulley, II), loosely mounted onshaft, I Luponwhich the cam. drum, I, is rigidly mounted,undercontrol lo of the disc clutch, I2 one disc 'of which is pinned to the shaft I I, and is brought into and out 0faction by means of the pair of co`operating wedge collars, I3, loosely mounted'on shaft, II, and lcontrolled by means of a-foot pedal I4 (see `(Fig: 6)` l5 attached to shaft, I5, to which is'also attached lever arm I6, to which are Vpin connected rods Il and I8, by means of which `the arms I9 and 2li' attached to wedge co1lars,-I,3, may be simultaneously moved to expand the wedge combination 20 and so press the drivingpulley,A I0, against the friction disc clutch, I2, thustransmittingpower from the driving pulley to' shaft,v- II, only while pedal III is depressed. The expansion of thejwedge collar combinationi's resisted on one side by the 25 collar ZI, and to reduce the frictionj ball lthrust bearings 22 and 23 areplaced on; either side of the wedge collar combination, I3. I"I'hesprin`g23a, attached to lever arm I6 Aand to` the frame of the machine returns the 4Ineclianisirl-to its former 30 position when pressure on pedali! is r'elez'isd.A

It will be obvious vthat vpower'will betrans. mltted to the shaft, II, only while` the pedal ,Id` is depressed. I f

The supply of articles to kbe-wrapped is placed 35 by hand or by any suitable-meansfsuch as an automatic feeder, in the inclined trough orchute, 24, which has an opening.A on one sideof its` lower end to permit .the yexit of one' articlel Vat a time and an opening on .the` oppositeside to ad# 40 mit the plunger, 25, on the end oithepflunger4 rod 26, movable longitudinally-dn guides Z'I'and 28. The movement ofthe plungerfrodL 26 is acituated in one direction 'bya" springff29, andis' limi-ted in that directionv bythe collar 30h-Its 45 movement in theireverse. direction isfcontrlled by levery H4, having Ion one* e'ndroller IIE" in contact with collar '.III6,' andf'on uthefotherfiend" roller II'I, which contacts cam foncani l', at each revolutionv of the drum:v il 'f 1% 50 Beside the lower end of;thechute,`24',"' U I of spring controlled fingers or tongs',l3|3`l`, plvotedvto the arm `(i2 kby the pivots 33: and drawn f inwardly or toward each other by a light spiral l spring 34. The arm 32 to which these fingers are attached is pivotally mounted on they frame of the machine by means of the stud 35, and carries a roller 36 arranged to engage cam 3 on the cam drum I, whereby the fingers are moved from the position in which they receive the article X to the position in which the article X receives its wrapper, as hereinafter described.

Two rolls, 31, of the wrapping material are supported on spools 38, loosely carried on shafts 39.4 From the spools the wrapping material 40 leads over two feed rolls 4|, mounted on shafts 42 on which are mounted inter-meshing gears 43, one of which is driven by a pulley, 44, by means of a belt 45, which is guided by idlers 48, and passes around a driving pulley, 46, attached to a friction roller, 41, loosely mounted on shaft 49, and confined against longitudinal movement along the shaft by collars 50. The friction roller 41 is intermittently driven by contact with cam 2 on cam drum l, as will be further described. 'I'he strips of wrapper 40 are pressed against the feed rolls 4| by rollers 5|, which are mounted on pivoted arms 52, and pressure is maintained by spring 53.

Slidably mounted in bearings 54 and 55, attached to the frame of the machine below the Wrapper feeder are two aligned, opposing spindles, 56 and 51, on the adjacent end of which are cup-shaped article holders, 58 and 59. which are of approximately the size and shape of the article to be wrapped, and which are provided with inserted, compressible material 58a and 59a, or springs to resiliently hold the article without damage. The article holders, 58 and 59 are shaped to fit over the sides of the article so that the article may be pressed a short distance into the cups by compression of the compressible material. I'his results in the folding ofthe wrapping material over the edges of the article in the position shown in Fig. 13. Attached to each of spindles 56 and 51are collars 60 and 8|, each provided with lugs 62, and connected by the links 63 and 64, to the pivoted lever 65, which is provided at its lower extremity -with a roller 66, which contacts with cam 4 on cam drum to impart longitudinal motion to the spindles 58 and 51, as described hereinafter.

Slidably mounted on spindles 56 and 51 and surrounding article holders, 58 and 59, are two cup-shaped membrane holders, 61 and 68, which also have inserted rings 69 and 10, of resilient compressible material, such as soft rubber, and are each provided with lugs for studs 1| and 12, and connected by links 13 and 14 to pivoted lever 15, which is provided at its lower end with a roller 16, which contacts with cam 5 on cam drum l to impart longitudinal motion to the cupshaped membrane holders 61 and |58, as hereinafter described.

Within membrane holder 68 is a circular knife 11. having a serrated cutting edge attached to a plurality of rods 18, passing through openings in the bottom of the cup-shaped membrane holder 58, and rigidly attached to collar, 19, which in turn is slidably mounted on a sleeve 80, which forms a part of membrane holder 68. Attached to collar 19 is a lug, 8|, to which is pivoted link 82,' connecting with lever B3, which is provided at its opposite end with a roller` 84 which engages cam 6 on cam drum l, to impart motion to the knife 11, as hereinafter described. 'I'he spring, 85, serves to return the knife to its former position after having been moved by the cam. The spindles 56 and 51 are provided with sprockets 86 and 81 connected by chains v88 and 89, to sprockets 90 and 9|, mounted on shaft 98, upon which shaft is also mounted sprocket 93, cooperating with sprocket 94, by means of chain 95. Sprocket 94 is mounted on a sleeve 95 on shaft 49 and at the opposite end of the sleeve is sprocket 91, which intermittently meshes with gear-toothed segment 8 on cam drum i to impart rotary motion to spindles 56 and 51 as hereinafter described.

A roll 98 of banding material is carried on a pin 99 attached to an arm |00 rotatably mounted on shaft i5. Arm |00 supports a band heating unit |0|, which may be of the electric resistance type and furnished with current from any convenient source, not shown. A strip of banding material, 98a from the roll 98 leads through the heater |0| and to the inner face of the heater as shown in Fig. 11.

Pivotally attached to arm |00 is link |02 connecting with lever arm |03, pivoted to bracket |04 on the frame of the machine. Intermediate of the ends of lever arm |03 is mounted roller |05, which contacts with cam 1 on cam drum to impart motion to heater |0| later described. Spring |05a presses roller |05 against cam drum l.

Rigidly mounted on the frame of the machine is support |06 carrying shears |01, each of the blades of which are pivotally connected by links |08 to opposite ends of arm |09 mounted on shaft ||0 operating in sleeve l. One end of shaft ||0 isbent at approximately 90 deg. and carries roller H2, which contacts cam 9 on cam drum to impart motion to the shears as later described. The spring I|3 returns the shears to former position after the action of cam 9 has` been completed.

Brieliy outlined, the abovedescribed group or assemblies of elements perform the following functions, each of which will be described in detail herein. The cam drum controls the movements of the working elements of the entire mechanism. The driving mechanism transmits the power for driving the machine and is completely under the control of the operator. All operations are performed automatically and mechanically, that is, without hand labour, and

from a single source of power applied at one place to the machine. 'I'his makes it convenient to drive the machine by means of one direct-connected motor. The article feeder takes the articles from the feed chute and places them in position to receive the wrapping material. The wrapper feeder places the required quantity of wrapping material on each side of the article in position to be cut to shape and folded over the outer portion of the article. The article holder assembly includes the wrapper cutter and folder. It receives the article from the article-feeder, holds it in position between the Wrapping material, While the circular knife cuts out portions of wrapping material, folds the wrapper over the outer portion of the article and revolves the partially wrapped article, while a band of wrapping vmaterial is placed around the outer portion of the ably a material similar to the wrapping material, but it may beany suitablemembraneous material which has a coating lo'n, one side of an adhesive material, which is nonadhesive when cold, but vbecomes adhesive when heated to a moderately vhigh temperature.'

Or, in place ofthe heater IOI and band material coated with adhesive which requires heat for its application, I may `substitute a moistening device and use an adhesive which becomes sticky when molstened. Or, I may us-e a device which applies a coating of adhesive to the band material as it passes from the roll 98 to the article being Wrapped. r

The detailed description of the operation of each of these instrlnnentalities and their coordination each with the other, is as follows:

A supply of wrapping material ,of suitable-width and in the form of rolls, 31, is placed on each of the spools, 38, and a roll 9B of band material is placed on pin 99. Electric current is supplied to heater IOI and power to pulley I0. Since pulley |0 is free to rotate on shaft II the machine does not start until lever I4 is depressed, thus operating friction clutch i2 through its instrumentality of Wedge collars, I3.

It is assumed that the position of the cam drum I is such as it would be at the instant of completion of the wrapping of an article,'and that a completely wrapped article has just been released from between the compression heads 58 and 59.

Upon depressing the pedal I4 and thus starting the rotation of the cam drum I, the cam 2 on the surface of the drum contacts with the friction roller 41, on shaft 49, and rotates pulley 46 and drives pulley 44 by means of belt 45. The rotation of pulley 44 rotates inter-meshing gears 43 and feed rollers 4I against which the strips of wrapping material are pressed by rollers 5| under the action of spring 53, causing wrapping material to be drawn from spools 38 and passed downwardly between compression heads 58 and 59 to .the position indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. The cam 2 is of such length as to cause just sufficient wrapping material to be drawn into position for use.

Further rotation of cam drum I brings cam 3 into contact with roller 36 on arm causing the fingers3| to move forward and carry the article X to be wrapped into position between article holders, 58 and 59 and between the two strips of Wrapping material. As the article X reaches its position, cam 4 on drum moves roller 66 on lever 65, thereby moving spindles 56 and 51 toward each other and bringing article holders, 58 and 59 into contact with the sides of the article and holding the wrapping material against the article, thus supporting the article, whereupon .the ngers 3| under control of cam 3 are returned to their former position beside the chute 24. The article X, the wrapping material 40, the article holders, 58 and 59, the membrane holders 61 and G8, and thecircular knife 11, are now in the position shown in Fig. 8. Further rotation of the cam drum I, cam 5, moves roller 16 on lever 15, thereby moving membrane holders |51 and 68 each toward the other, until they surround and enclose the article X and the two strips of wrapping material 40 are held rmly between the rings of resilient compressible material 69 and 10 in the position shown in Fig. 9.

, Further rotation of the cam drum I brings cam 5 into contact with roller 84 on lever 83 and moves circular knife 11 to shear the wrapping membrane around the article, as shown in Fig. 10.

Further rotation of the cam drum I causes cam 4 to move spindles 56 and 51 toward each other compressing resilient rings 58a and 59a, and passing the rims of the cup shaped article holders 58 and 59 over the outside of the article X and 5 folding, crimping or pleating the edges of. the wrapping material 40 over the periphery of the article. The article with its surrounding wrapper is, at this 'stage of the operation, inthe condition indicated in Fig. 13.

Upon further rotation of cam drum I, cam 6 contacts roller H1 on lever |I4, moving plunger rod 25 and forcing an article from feed chute 24 into the space between the lingers 3|,.where it is held. by reason of the pressure caused by the spring 34 until cam 3 again contacts roller 36. Simultaneously with the movements just described, cam 5 acting through lever 15 moves wrapping material holders 51 and 68 away from each othei` uncovering the circumferential surface of the article.

Further rotation of the cam drum I brings gear segment 3 on cam drum I into mesh with gear 91, rotating sleeve 96 and sprocket 94, which causes the rotation of spindles 56 and 51 through the intermediate agency of chain 95, sprocket 93, shaft 92, sprockets 9| and 90, chains 89 and 8B and sprockets 81 and 86. The number of teeth in the gear segment 8 is such as will cause the spindles 56 and 51 and consequently the partially wrapped article held between article holders, 58 and 59 to rotate one and one eighth revolutions.

Simultaneously with the beginning of this motion, cam 1 on cam drum I contacts roller |05 on lever |03 which, through the intermediate agency of link |02 and arm |00, moves the face of heater IOI, carrying heated band material 98a into contact with the outer surface of the wrapping on the article. The pressure of the heated band material against the article causes the band material to adhere to the article and the simultaneous rotation ofthe article draws the strip of band material through the heater. At this stage of the operation, the positions of the shears |01, the article X, the strip of bandingmaterial 98a and the heater IOI, are as shown in Fig. 11. When one and one eighth revolutions of the article are completed, cam 1 permits the heater to resume its former position out of contact with the article.

Further rotation of cam drum brings cam- 9 into contact with roller I I2, operating shears |01 through the intermediate agency of bent shaft roller 66, lever arm and links 64 and 63 to move spindles 51 and 56 outwardly, releasing the wrapped articles from between article holders, 58 and 59, and allowing articles to fall into any suitable receptacle. not shown in the drawings.

Further rotation of the cam drum repeats in sequence the operations above described. Each complete' rotation of the cam drum performs all the operations of wrapping one article.

In some cases operations which are above described as if they were consecutive and distinct in point of time, are in fact somewhatv over- .75

lapping, that is, an operation or movement may begin before the completion of the previous movement, so long as there is no interference between the two movements. l

The permissible speed of operation of my machine is very high and is only limited by the accuracy of construction of the machine and perfection of the coordination of the interrelated movements to insure smooth working, freedom from vibration, etc.

l. A machine for wrapping articles comprising in combination an article-feeder', a pair of opposed rotatable and axially reciprocatable article-holders, a pair of opposed, reciprocatable wrapper-holders, concentric with and partially enclosing said article-holders, a knife within one of the said wrapper-holders, dual means for provlding'sources of supply of wrapping material, dual feeders for wrapping material, a band applier, a band-severing shear, a rotatable drum whereon are mounted camsand a gear segment; levers and a gear cooperating with said cams and gear segment adapted to control movements of said feeder, article-holders, wrapper holders, Wrapper-feeders, knife, band applier and bandsevering shear.

2. The combination, in a machine for wrapping articles, of means for providing a source of supply of articles, a reciprocating plunger adapted to transfer individual articles from said source of supply to an article feeder, an article-feeder comprising spring controlled fingers mounted on a lever and movable from article-receiving position to article-wrapping position between dual strips of wrapping material, dual means for providing sources of supply of strips of membraneous wrapping material, feeding rolls for each of the strips of wrapping material, dual opposed rotatable and axially reciprocatable cup-shaped article-holders, having compressible contact faces adapted to resiliently'hold the article between their opposed faces, dual opposed axially reciprocatable cup-shaped wrapper-holders, surrounding and partially enclosing said article-holders, having rings of. compressible material within their cups and surrounding said article-holders, a cylindrical knife within one of said wrapperholders, axially independently reciprocatable to sever the wrapping material, a band applier cornprising means for providing a .source of supply of banding material and a heater mounted on a lever and movable into and out of contact with the periphery of the article, means for rotating the article while said band applier is in contact therewith, a banding material severing shear, and means including a rotatable drum having cams and a segment of a gear adaptable to move and control the movement of said instrumentalities.

3. A machine for wrapping articles, including in combinationmeans for feeding dual supplies of wrapping material from dual sources of supply, means for placing the article between said supplies of wrapping material, means for holding the article, means for holding said wrapping material, means for cutting said'wrapping material tov desired shape, means for rotating the article, means for applying an adhesive band around the article while rotating, means for severing the band and means for moving and controlling the movement of each of said means.

4. The combination, in a machine for wrapping articles, of supports for two rolls of strips of membraneous wrapping material, feeding rolls for an article feeder comprising a pair of spring con--v trolled fingers mounted on a lever and movable from article-receiving position to article-wrapping position between said strips of wrapping material, a pair of opposed rotatable and axially reciprocatable article-holders, a pair of axially reciprocatable, cup shaped wrapper holders, which surround and partially enclose said article-holders, having rings of compressible material within their cups, a reciprocatable, cylindrical knife within one of said wrapper-holders, adapted to be reciprocated to sever the wrapping material while said wrapping material is held between the said wrapper-holders, a band applier comprising means for providing a source of supply of banding material, and a heater mounted on a lever and movable into and out of contact with the periphery of the article, means for rotating the article while said band applier is in contact therewith, a banding material severing shear, and means including a rotatable drum, to which are attached cams and a segment of a gear for moving and controlling the movement of all moving parts of the machine.

5. A machine for wrapping articles, including in combination means for feeding dual supplies of wrapping material from dual sources of supply, means for placing the article between said supplies of wrapping material, means for holding the article, means for holding said wrapping material, means for cutting said wrapping material to desired shape, means for rotating the article, means for applying an adhesive band around thel article while rotating, means for severing the band, and means including a rotatable drum whereon is mounted cams and a gear segment; levers and a gear cooperating with said cams and gear segment.

6. A machine for wrapping articles, including in combination dual means for providing sources of supply of strips of wrapping material, dual feeding rolls for said strips, an article feeder movable into and out` of a position between said strips, dual opposed rotatable and axially reciprocatable cup-shaped article-holders, having compressible contact faces adapt-ed to resiliently hold the article between their opposed faces, dual opposed axially reciprocatable cup-shaped wrapper-holders, surrounding and partially enclosing said article-holders, a cylindrical knife Within one of said wrapper holders axially independently reciprocatable to sever theI wrapping material, a band applier comprising means for providing a source of supply of banding material and a heater movable into and out of contact with the periphery of the article, a banding material severing shear, a rotatable drum having cams and a segment of a gear,levers and a gear cooperating with said cams and gear segment adapted to move and`control the movement of said instrumentalities. I

7. The combination in a machine for wrapping articles, of dual means for providing sources of supply of wrapping material, dual means for feeding two strips of wrapping material into position for use,` means for positioning the article between said strips of wrapping material, means for holding the article between said `strips of wrapping material, means for cutting portions of predetermined pattern from said strips of wrapping material, means for folding peripheral parts of said cut portions over the edges of the article, and means for applying an adhesive band of wrap- -ping material to the outer surface of said folded portions.

8. The combination, in a machine for4 wrap-l material and a heatermovable into and out ofv contact with the article being wrapped.

9. In a machine for wrapping articles, a holder for the article, comprising a pair of opposed rotatable and axially reciprocatable cupped compression heads, each cup having a filler of compressible material, said cups being formed to t over the edges of the larticle when interposed there-between.

10. In a machine' for wrapping articles, a device for holding the article during the application of the wrapper, comprising dual opposed rotatable and longitudinally reciprocatable cupshaped compression heads, having recesses in adjacent faces thereof conforming to the periphery of the article, a cushion of resilient yielding material within said recesses and means for controlling the longitudinal and rotational movement of said heads.

11. In a machine for Wrapping articles, a device for holding the article during the application of the wrapper, comprising dual opposed rotatable and longitudinally reciprocatable, cupshaped compression heads, having recesses in adjacent faces thereof conforming to the periphery of the article, a cushion of resilient yielding material within said recesses and means including a lever and rotating cam adapted to control the longitudinal movement of said heads, and means including a rotating intermittent drive adapted to control the rotational movement of said heads.

12. The combination in a machine for wrapping articles of an article holder as described in claim 10, with a pair of opposed cup-shaped wrapper holders, concentric with and surrounding partially enclosing said compression heads and longitudinally movable with respect thereto, having rings of resilient compressible material within said cups and projecting beyond the rims thereof, and means for controlling the longitudinal movement of said holders.

13. In a machine for wrapping articles a device for holding the article as described in claim 10, in combination with a pair of opposed cup-shaped wrapper holders concentric with and surrounding and partially enclosing said compression heads and longitudinally movable with respect thereto, compressible rings within said cups and projecting beyond the rims thereof, and means including a lever and rotating cam adapted to control the longitudinal movement of said holders.

14. The combination in a machine for wrapping articles, of an article holder as described in claim 10, with a pair of opposed cup-shaped wrapper holders concentric with, surrounding and partially enclosing said compression heads and longltudinally movable with respect thereto, having resilient compressible material within said cups and projecting beyond the rims thereof, means for controlling the longitudinal movement of said holders, a knife slidably mounted within one of said holders and longitudinally movable with respect thereto, and means adapted to control the movement of said knife.

15. The combination in a machine for wrapping articles, of an article holder as described in claim l0, with a pair of opposed cup-shaped wrapper holders concentric with, surrounding and partially enclosing said compression heads and longitudinally movable with respect thereto, having resilient compressible material within said cups and projecting beyond the rims thereof, means for controlling the longitudinal movement of said holders, a knife slidably mounted within one of said holders and longitudinally movable with respect thereto, and means including a lever and rotatable cam adapted to control the movement of said knife.

LEWIS M. DIXON. 

